Japanese steelmaker JFE Steel Corporation has announced that it has decided to idle one of its eight blast furnaces due to decreasing demand in both the local and international steel markets. Accordingly, the company will halt production at blast furnace No. 2 at its East Japan Works (Keihin) plant in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, and will reduce its total crude steel production capacity by around 13 percent or almost 4 million mt.
The blast furnace, shaft furnace, sintering machine, coke ovens, converter, electric arc furnace, continuous casting machines, and hot rolling equipment are the main facilities in Keihn to be shut down.
The company will shut down iron and steelmaking and hot rolling equipment at the East Japan Works plant in Kawasaki by the financial year 2023-24 which ends in March 2024 and the Chiba plant will take over the automotive steel sheet production of East Japan Works except for pickled steel sheet and special steel products. The company’s annual profit is expected to increase by around JPY 60 billion ($550.54 million) owing to the reduction of fixed costs and other expenditures in consequence of the shutdowns.
The company stated that it will review its production operations to strengthen the competitiveness of its blast furnace-based integrated steelworks and increase manufacturing capacity as much as possible. This move is reportedly to support the company’s sales and product strategies as well as earnings in key fields such as automobiles, energy, and materials for construction and infrastructure.